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Toronto Argonauts fall to arch-rival Hamilton Tiger-Cats 36-27

Ticats receiver Chris Williams was a one-man wrecking crew as Hamilton beat the Argonauts 36-27 on Saturday night for their first win of the CFL season.

Argonaut Spencer Watt is hauled down by the Ticats' Jermaine McElveen during Saturday's clash at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton. (Geoff Robins / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

By Bob MitchellSports Reporter

Sun., July 15, 2012

HAMILTON—Argonaut Cory Boyd has a simple answer when asked what needs to be done to turn the Double Blue into winners.

“We just got to be better, that’s all there is to it,” Boyd said Saturday after the 26-year-old tailback almost single-handedly brought Toronto back from a 21-0 deficit to beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

But Boyd’s powerful running game — 168 yards on 19 carries — couldn’t overcome the familiar problem of having too many long drives stall in the red zone as the Tiger-Cats held on for a 36-27 victory before an announced crowd of 24,264 at steamy Ivor Wynne Stadium.

“We started slow. They got up on us early and it was a fight to get back,” said Boyd, whose four-yard TD early in the fourth quarter brought the Argos to within five points. “We had great chances to do it but by the time we got there, they gave it an extra push.”

Boyd’s runs gave Toronto great second-half field position.

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“But there are no moral victories,” Boyd said. “Either you win or lose. But there’s always a lesson to be learned in every loss.”

Boyd had 42 yards in the first half before his second-half explosion.

“It wasn’t me. It was the offensive line,” he said. “They got called out by the coaches. They responded well. As they got confident in their swagger I told them, ‘Just give me a crease and I’ll do the rest.’”

For the Argos, there are two glaring lessons that need to be learned in time for Wednesday’s game against the 0-3 Winnipeg Blue Bombers at the Rogers Centre.

QB Ricky Ray has to find a way to score in the red zone and the special teams have to find a way to prevent opposing returners from scorching them.

Ticats receiver Chris Williams was a one-man wrecking crew in the first half. He beat rookie Argo defensive back Patrick Watkins for a 34-yard TD in the first quarter and then had two electrifying returns for touchdowns — an 89-yarder early in the second and a 119-yard major just before halftime off a missed field goal by Argos kicker Noel Prefontaine, who left the game with an injured leg.

Five times Toronto was inside the Ticats’ red zone but they came away with just 13 points on four field goals and a single instead of 35 points. Prefontaine made field goals from 15 and 37 yards. His replacement, Anthony Alix, hit a pair from 18 yards out but missed on a 24-yarder.

“It seems like that’s been the trend for us. We’re not coming away with touchdowns when we need to in the score zone,” said Ray, who completed 23 of 38 passes for 232 yards and one interception to pass Doug Flutie for seventh spot on the CFL career passing list.

“We just have to get better in that area. But with everything that didn’t go well, we still had a chance to win it in the fourth quarter. But those returns change momentum super fast. It was huge for them. Special teams are a big part of the game. We just have to clean that up.”

Despite being down, the players believed they would still win until Hamilton QB Henry Burris scrambled for two big runs and then sealed the victory with a six-yard TD pass to Bakari Grant in the final minute. Burris completed 12 of 27 passes for 181 yards and one interception, by Argos defensive back Evan McCollough.

“We made too many mistakes in the first half. Too many penalties. A couple of dropped balls. And we gave them two returns for touchdowns,” Argo head coach Scott Milanovich said. “It’s tough to win a close game on the road when you make mistakes.

“The encouraging thing is that at halftime, when we were down 20 to nothing or whatever the score was, these guys never quit believing. They believe in themselves. They thought right until the very end that they would get a win.”

Milanovich said he wanted to look at the film before making any assessment on why the team can’t score consistently in the red zone and keeps giving up big returns.

“For most of the night I thought our defence played phenomenal,” he said. “Ricky was up and down. There were times when we got hot and times when we ran the ball well.”

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